Chicken slow-cooked in a tomato cream sauce and served over pasta for an indulgent and easy weeknight meal.
This is one of those meals, perfect for when you wake up in the morning wondering what in the world you’re going to make for dinner tonight. Before I started meal planning, needing to figure out dinner each day was a constant, underlying stress in the back of my mind. I’d be at work, trying to remember what ingredients we had at home that I could pull together for a decent dinner so I that I didn’t have to stop at the store on the way home. You know the drill!
Meal planning is a GAME CHANGER! It takes all the guess-work out of dinnertime, I’ve been doing it for years now, and I’m never going back to the old way. Plus, with the MOMables Meal Plans that I share each week, I’ll even send you the grocery shopping list, so you don’t have to worry about running out of ingredients essential to your next night’s meal. Interested? You can check out a free trial to see how the Meal Plans work here.
How to Make Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken
But back to today’s recipe. It’s a classic, slow cooker meal that’s cooked to creamy perfection. However, this is not one of those slow cooker meals where you “set it and forget it”. Make sure you’ll be at home to stir the chicken and sauce a few times throughout the cook cycle or the dairy ingredients may crust and burn.
If you know you’re going to be gone all day, but really want this tasty dinner, simply wait to add the milk and cream cheese until the last 30 minutes of the cooking time. You’ll avoid any burnt milk and you’ll still get to enjoy this delicious chicken dinner. You’ll need those 30 minutes to make your favorite pasta to serve the slow cooker creamy chicken on anyway, so it’s easy enough to do both at one time.
Related: Best Chicken Dinner Ideas
How to Meal Prep This Slow Cooker Meal
To save time, I love to meal plan whenever I can. This recipe can be prepped and frozen ahead of time and reheated when you’re ready to eat. To freeze the sauce and chicken simply allow it to cool completely and store it in a freezer bag or reusable freezer container. On the day when you plan to serve the meal, simply thaw it out and serve over pasta.
While you can technically freeze the past too, I usually wait to make fresh pasta when we’re ready to eat. There’s just nothing like having it fresh from the pot, with the chicken and sauce poured on top.
And then of course, when you’re ready to serve this dinner, add a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the top and enjoy!
Fire-Roasted Tomato Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken
Chicken slow-cooked in a tomato cream sauce and served over pasta for an indulgent and easy weeknight meal.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 4-6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breasts (about 1–1 ½ pounds)
- 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 14-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 8 ounces cream cheese (okay to use light)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- To the dish of a slow cooker, add the chicken breasts, crushed tomatoes, and fire-roasted tomatoes.
- Cook on high 4-6 hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F, stirring a few times throughout.
- Once the chicken is cooked, shred the meat between 2 forks. Stir in the cream cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Cover with the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until the sauce is creamy and thickened.
- Serve over the pasta of your choice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 358
- Sugar: 11.4g
- Sodium: 1002mg
- Fat: 17.7g
- Saturated Fat: 9.2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17.9g
- Fiber: 3.8g
- Protein: 31.6g
- Cholesterol: 126.2mg
Sara
when do you add the cream cheese, milk, salt, pepper, and corn???? The recipe doesn’t say anything about when to add them. do you soften the cream cheese?? I am planning on making this tomorrow and would love to know when others added these ingredients. Thanks
MOMables-Laura
Hi Sara, the recipe has been updated! Thanks for letting me know.
Carrie Miller
I was skeptical – it sounded bland and too simple. It was great though – the picky kids loved it. My husband and I enjoyed it too and we have enough for left overs. (I added steamed brocolli right before serving too).
★★★★★
Emilie Hebert
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I love that you added broccoli.
Maureen
Great recipe. I’m sure my friends will love this for dinner. The freshly grated Parmesan cheese definitely did add the final cheesy flavor.
Debbie
I just wanted to say this recipe is awesome! My whole family loved it and asked for more. If anyone is feeling skeptical about trying it, I recommend going for it.
My Dad is 78 and has Parkinson’s and it’s tough to get him to eat but he LOVED this. I have fallen into the trap of recipes having to have a ton of ingredients and take 2 hours to put together for them to be good. That is not true!
This was totally delicious and is now on our regular menu plan. For the record, I did add some sauteed onions and garlic because I had to complicate it. :-) But this is a total winner. Thank you!
★★★★★
MOMables
thanks so much for letting me know how much your family enjoyed it Debbie!
Kacy
I’m making this now!! It smells yummy!!
Kimberly Ross
I have made a similar recipe, but this came out way better. I added black beans to this and used rice instead of noodles since it is what I had on hand. I also layered it rice, mixture, steamed broccoli and then cheese and it came out great!!!!
When you freeze it, what are the steps? For once I have leftovers!!!!
★★★★★
MOMables
Kimberly, to freeze simple bag leftovers (without pasta, just sauce) in freezer bags.
amber
I cooked this today and it turned out very soupy. I’m not sure what I did wrong? Any suggestions?
MOMables
“soupy” is not how most people have described this recipe… the sauce is “thick”. did you omit anything or made substitutions?
Stacie
So good. Used chive onion cream cheese because I didn’t have plain. Different flavor than when I made it with plain- even better! Served it over veggie rotini. Thanks!
★★★★★
Liz Armstrong
I’ve cooked this recipe twice already and love it! I have a new job now though and won’t be able to come home for lunch. Can I cook it on low for like 10 hours? How would you alter the recipe? Thank you!
★★★★★
MOMables
Liz, if your crockpot doesn’t have a timer (mine doesn’t but my neighbor’s does) then try adding 1/2 – 1 cup of liquid (water, extra tomatoes..) -just remember to not add the cream cheese until the end.
Lizzy
Being a southern bayou woman, we aren’t afraid to take a great recipe and make it our own. I added our own spices to it. We normally run in to the problem of dishes lacking that spice that we love so much! Paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and celery salt. Here is what I love about this recipe, I had ALL ingredients in my freezer, or pantry. I didn’t have to run to the store for anything! (Trust me, it’s a plus for a full time working mom.)
The flavor, the texture, the ease of this dish was spot on. I have boys in my family who love seconds, unfortunate for me I had none left for lunch the next day at work! LOL! Kudo’s to you for making dinner easy for the workin’ woman! And for anyone wondering the red pepper flakes added the perfect amount of heat, if ya like them spicy! We also used organic boneless, skinless, chicken strips. And next time I think we WILL for sure take that shrimp suggestion into consideration. The star rating is not working for me, but as for my family and I, we say 5 stars for sure!
MOMables
from one southern woman to another…Thank you so much Lizzy! And yes, when you work full time… a recipe that has the ingredients on hand rocks!
Allyson
Yum!! I’m adding roasted garlic and sautéed onions, can’t wait!!
MOMables
yum!
Breonna
So bland :( Had to add peas, bacon, basil, garlic salt, roasted red peppers and more salt before it was even palpable. NOT A FAN
★
MOMables
Did u use fire roasted tomatoes? It’s definitely not a bland recipe.
Amber
I made this tonight and had high hopes. I forgot to get bowtie or another smaller pasta, so I ended up using spaghetti noodles that I already had on hand. It turned out kind if like chicken spaghetti – sort of. My family immediately didn’t want to eat it because they thought it looked like throw up. :( while the flavor was pretty good, I have to admit it was difficult to eat after seeing it from that perspective! But the dairy makes the saice pinkish, and the chunks of corn and shredded chicken did make it look unappealing. Dang it! Based on presentation alone, I probably won’t make this again. But it really did have good flavor!
MOMables
this is definitely one of those recipes that need the big pasta bulk for proper texture.
Emily
Hi!
Just wanted to let you know that I tried out this recipe and it was a hit with my whole family! My parents and siblings absolutely loved it! I added a little extra salt and pepper and also added some paprika and oregano. It was so easy and I barely had to think about it all day.
Thanks so much for the great recipe!
★★★★★
MOMables
It’s a hit in my family too Emily! :) So glad you loved it.
Cassie
Hi! Great recipe! My question is if I double the recipe how long should my cook time be?
MOMables
Add an extra hour on high Cassie.
Cheryle
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made a few changes and can hardly wait to serve a delicious dinner. I browned 1 lb of mild Italian sausage and added that to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients minus the chicken. Added some red pepper flakes and a couple of dashes of balsamic vinegar. The pasta should be ready soon and we will enjoy a wonderful dinner.
★★★★★
MOMables
I love using sausage instead of chicken!! it’s delicious! you will see how awesome it comes out! super flavorful! enjoy.
ACE
I’ve never had fire roasted tomatoes before, do they make this dish spicy?
MOMables
they make it more smoky than spicy. use regular petite diced tomatoes and add 1/2 teaspoon of paprika to the recipe.
Jake
Hey! Question – are the canned tomatoes drained?
MOMables
no. as is. the fire roasted tomatoes have awesome flavor in the juice :)
melissa
Just wondering how it would be if I cut the chicken into chucks before I put it into the crockpot…would it alter the cooking time?
MOMables
Yes, if you cut the chicken into smaller pieces, cut the cooking time by 1-2h.
Kelly
Hi! I am making this for dinner tonight and will not be home so plan on adding the cream cheese and milk during the last 30 minutes. How long would you suggest cooking the other ingredients and on high or low?
MOMables
Everything else follow the recipe as stated in the recipe. 4-6hours. enjoy!
OctMom2
This sounds yummy! I might want to try it with shrimp. Any thoughts on how to prepare it with shrimp instead? Maybe add it at just at the end so it doesn’t get overcooked? Also, I love your dishes! Do you know who makes them? I have been looking for a new set. Thanks!
MOMables
Hi Erica! you will not need the cooking time to be so long with shrimp. you might get away with the whole thing 2hours on low, adding the shrimp in the final 30minutes. those dishes are from Walmart! lol :)
cms831
Just wanted to comment on this, because I see such positive reviews, so I wanted to add my own (not so positive) review.
I’ve done quite a bit of slow cooking, so I was a bit worried when the recipe suggested putting 2 cold dairy products (the milk and the cream cheese) in the slow cooker at the beginning of the cooking process as opposed to the end. Turns out my worries were spot on. The first couple of hours were fine, but once the stuff in the slow cooker started to boil around the edges, the dairy products began to curdle. I decided to let it finish cooking to see if it would eventually meld together. They did not. I am not sure if I am the only person to have this problem, but I think the recipe might work better if the dairy were added at the end. They are not needed for the cooking process itself, just to make the sauce a bit richer at the end. Just a suggestion :)
MOMables
great suggestion. I usually put it all in there and never have a problem but i can see that with some crockpots that might be the case. thank you!
Anna
Can i use frozen chicken to make this or does it need to be thawed out first? Sounds delicious!
MOMables
Absolutely Anna. :)
Mary
How would you go about freezing/reheating this? I’m thinking about doubling the recipe.
Laura
Cook and once it’s cooled, freeze sauce in freezer bag or container. Simply thaw it out when you need it (either in the fridge or in the sink), warm it up and serve over fresh pasta. I don’t freeze it with the pasta… I only freeze the sauce.
Marla
Any chance you know how large a serving size is and now many calories it is??
Laura
Hi Marla! This is a family sized recipe. It serves about 6. We do not calculate calorie count on this site but I can tell you that it’s not a heavy, creamy saucy kind of recipe. You can serve it over pasta or rice.
Marla
Thank you much Laura! :) The serving number is awesome!
Thank you for a tasty dinner idea last night! ;)
Laura
so glad it came out and everyone liked it! ;)